Labour Court recommends €20,000 compensation ceiling for each of two Iarnrod Eireann workers

The Labour Court recommended a €20,000 ceiling on loss-of-earnings compensation for each of two workers at Iarnrod Eireann after outsourcing and a reorganisation of stores areas. The recommendation was signed on 31 March 2011. The Services Industrial Professional Technical Union argued that the earlier compensation framework applied. Iarnrod Eireann said a reduced €10,000 ceiling should apply because the workers' losses arose after the revised rate took effect. The Court said the changes took place on 24 April 2009, before the reduction was announced and took effect, so the later ceiling could not apply retrospectively. Because the agreement documents did not clarify whether the changes were major or ordinary, the Court recommended a €20,000 ceiling for each worker in this exceptional case, without precedent for the future.